A Recognition
by beachglass5387
Summary: A series of Malec one shots.
1. Turf

I'm using randomly generated to words to inspire a series of Malec moments.

**Turf**

"So, how many high warlocks are there?" Alec asks.

"A lot fewer since the war on drugs," Magnus says, waggling his eyebrows.

"What?" Alec says.

"Don't they teach you history in that Institute? That was a joke – a reference to the 80s. You know, you were born in them."

"Oh," says Alec, unsure if he should feel silly. Magnus seems to be looking at him fondly, though, so he decides against it. "So, how many high warlocks are there?"

"Trade secret," Magnus says.

"It isn't," Alec says. He's almost certain.

"You're right, it isn't," Magnus agrees. "But, I can assure you, you won't like any of the others half as well as you like me."

"Probably not," Alec says.

"_Definitely_ not," says Magnus cheerfully. "Doubt they'd be as friendly to you."

"Why?" Alec asks. _Because I'm a Shadowhunter or because I'm gay_, he wonders.

"They'd be afraid I wouldn't like it," Magnus says breezily.

"Why would you care?" Alec asks.

Magnus's grin widens. "Well, they know that you're – I hesitate to say 'mine,' since of course you're your own – but, for want of a better term, part of my turf."

"Your turf?" Alec asks, unsure if he should be offended.

"That's it," Magnus says, "we're watching some 80s crime dramas when we get back to my apartment."

"Magnus," says Alec, "explain."

Magnus sighs. "Well, it's all much more civilized now, but there used to be some quite dramatic turf wars between warlocks."

"And you…" Alec says raising his eyebrows.

"Must I say it?" says Magnus, his tone making it clear that he'd like nothing better than to say whatever it was. "Though I, of course, excel at drama, it finally got a bit ridiculous. I and some of my colleagues had to call a halt to power thieving. Put the kibosh on lover snatching. Absolutely outlaw business poaching. Suspend all backstabbing pending further investigation. Disbar all those who-"

"Magnus," Alec interrupts, "what's this got to do with me?"

"Well," says Magnus, seeming slightly less eager, "warlocks don't just take to new rules. Don't take too much of anything - as group, anyway - unless we see a clear material advantage. In any case, there's no need to go into the details, but, suffice to say, I had to go to some extremes to make sure that the new culture of, ah… respectfulness, prevailed."

"_Magnus_," Alec says, taking pains to make his irritation evident in his voice.

"Oh, all right," Magnus says. "There was an incident about twenty years ago involving the high warlock of Newark and a werewolf that I was seeing and, well, I think it's likely that it will be at least another decade before the warlock community decides to be _friendly _with anyone I'm dating."

Alec scowls. He hates hearing about Magnus's previous relationships, partly because once he hears anything about them, he wants to hear more. "It's not like people just randomly hit on me," he says sullenly.

To his surprise, Magnus laughs. "People hit on you all the time, Alexander. You just never notice. It's adorable."

Alec's scowl deepens.

"Don't be mad," Magnus says cheerfully, throwing his arm around Alec's shoulders.

Alec stiffens momentarily. He's still not used to being touched by another man in public. Then, deliberately, he slides his arm around Magnus's waist. They walk silently for a moment and then Alec stops abruptly. "You did that on purpose," he says.

"I do a great many things on purpose," Magnus says.

"You distracted me from asking about your work on purpose," Alec clarifies.

Magnus blinks. "I didn't think you'd notice," he says quietly.

"I did," Alec says, both annoyed and triumphant.

They stare at each other for a moment and then Magnus smiles. It is not the grin Alec is used to seeing – it is somehow softer and more…human. "Don't be mad," Magnus says sincerely. He sighs. "I just…I shouldn't talk about some of it and some of it…some of it I just don't want to think about."

Alec considers for a moment and nods. He feels the same way about his demon hunting. "I get that," he says. "Why don't you just say that?"

"I had it right when I said you were straightforward," Magnus says, chuckling. "I'm not usually, these days. Most people don't notice when I distract them."

"Sometimes I like it when you distract me," Alec says. "But I usually notice when you do it. Eventually, anyway."

Magnus's head is cocked to the side and Alec can't place the expression on his face. The warlock leans toward him then and kisses him gently. When Magnus pulls back, he is still looking at Alec with that enigmatic look. "There. Was that me distracting you?" Magnus asks.

Alec thinks for minute – it is not as if Magnus does not frequently use kisses and caresses to distract him. "No," Alec says slowly. "That was…that was something else."

"You're very surprising," Magnus says, his voice still quieter than usual.

"What does that mean?" Alec asks, unsure if he should be nervous.

"I don't know," Magnus says. Then, he seems to return to himself. "It's nothing to worry about," he says, grinning. "Are you willing to go back to my apartment and let me distract you with bad television or…something else?" He looks Alec up and down suggestively.

Alec smiles. One thing he likes about Magnus is that he seems to have no problem drifting in and out of seriousness. It makes Alec feel like he can drift along with him.

"Yes," Alec says, grinning back and reaching for Magnus's hand.


	2. Appetite

Appetite

Magnus doesn't know why he is surprised that Alec eats as much as he does; he is a teenaged shadowhunter, after all. Sometimes Magnus forgets that Alec is only eighteen; something about him – a life time of being the responsible older brother, perhaps – makes him seem as though childhood is far behind him. At least, what passes for childhood among the nephilim.

"Do you know," Magnus says, as Alec rummages around in the refrigerator for more food, "I've been alive for hundreds of years, and have never really understood what it means to be 'eaten out of house and home' until now." Magnus expects the Alec to blush, but the nephilim just shrugs.

"You stole all of this food," Alec says.

"If I did, you can see how I'm in even more dangerous territory. I'll have to steal more and more. It will go far beyond Jean Valjean's hijinks, and look what happened to him. Do you want me to spend my life on the run?"

"Who's-" Alec starts.

"Who's Jean Valjean?" Magnus interrupts. "Never mind. Anyway, I though you said that you were coming over here late because you were having dinner at the Institute."

"No, I'm having dinner late because Isabelle was cooking dinner at the Institute," Alec says, as if this makes perfect sense.

"I know you think you just explained yourself…"Magnus says, reaching above Alec's head and pulling a leftover half of a pizza out of the refrigerator and handing it to Alec.

"Great!" Alec says, beaming at him. He opens the box and takes a bite of a cold slice of pizza. "It's okay if I have all of this, isn't it?" He asks between bites.

Magnus grins. "Yes. I definitely don't want it back now." So, he thinks, Alec is one of those people who acts differently when hungry. Usually, he is shy about rummaging through things in Magnus's apartment. Alec seems entirely focused on the pizza, so Magnus takes the opportunity to study the Shadowhunter. His clothes are the usual faded black – a sweater that is fraying at the cuffs and jeans with one knee torn out and stains around the hems that Magnus suspects are the remnants of ichor. The warlock idly wonders if Alec would get rid of them is he told him that, instead of appearing nondescript, the jeans actually look fashionably distressed. Magnus would love to see Alec's face if he learned that some people actually pay over a hundred dollars for jeans like his.

The warlock is willing to bet that Alec had, at some point, actually put some thought into how to appear unnoticeable. His hair, which is a striking contrast with is skin and eyes, is usually disheveled, with bangs that hang over Alec's eyebrows in, Magus imagines, an effort to make Alec's eyes less noticeable; he doesn't do as good a job as he thinks. There's no hiding his bone structure. Or the way his shoulders fill out that ancient sweater.

"Um…thanks for the pizza," Alec says belatedly, as he eats the last bite and notices Magnus looking at him. "I could get you some groceries if-"

Magnus leans over and kisses him. "It's fine," Magnus says. "I don't mind. Explain to me about Isabelle."

"Oh," Alec says, his cheeks slightly pink. "Well, she's an almost improbably bad cook. I think she knows it, but she hates being bad at things, so she keeps insisting she's getting better and trying to force us to eat the things she makes. The more Jace tells her she can't cook, the more she does."

"And because it's one of the only things she's bad at, he brings it up continually?" Magnus asks, smiling.

"Yeah," Alec says, shrugging. "She's also bad at men, but Jace tried to make fun of her for that, and… well…some things should be off limits. I think he still has the scar…"

Magnus hates talking about Jace. He braces himself for the conversation to continue on but, to his surprise, Alec continues talking about his sister.

"Any way, I always pretend to eat what Izzy cooks, so I can't actually make anything else. Hence the starving," he finishes, with an apologetic shrug.

"Why pretend to eat it?" Magnus asks.

"Well, I can't actually eat it. I used to try, but I kept throwing up after – food poisoning, you know – so…"

Only Alec, Magnus thinks, could make throwing up seem endearing. "I meant, why do _you_ pretend to eat it?"

"Oh. It makes Izzy happy, and she does things like that for me."

"Like what?" Magnus asks, intrigued.

"It's none of-" Alec starts, but then seems to change his mind. "The men. I think, anyway," Alec says.

"What?" Magnus says.

"I think part of the reason Izzy is so, you know,_ wild _is to…distract my parents. From me. I mean, she's never said so and I've never said so but I've always sort of thought…Any way."

"Huh," Magnus says, thinking back over his interactions with Isabelle Lightwood. She and Alec might be closer than he'd originally thought.

"Yeah. That's one of the reasons I shot Jace when he-"

"You shot Jace?" Magnus interrupts. Finally, he thinks, a Jace story he wants to hear.

"Only a little," Alec says, embarrassed. "I kind of grazed his arm with an arrow. We were training and he was making fun of Izzy because of some guy – really making fun of her, not the usual teasing – and I sort of shot at him. Not to really hurt him or anything. Just, you know, people shouldn't talk about Izzy like that."

"Well, now I certainly never will." Magnus says, raising an eyebrow. "Not that I would have before I knew it drove you to violence. I approve of wildness, you know."

"Of course you do," Alec says, rolling his eyes.

"And you don't?" Magnus says waggling his eyebrows.

Alec, as he is prone to do, takes him seriously. "I don't know," he says. "I'm not very good at it."

"A sober man in a room of drunks," Magnus says. "Does that bother you?"

Alec shrugs. "I have to fit in somehow, and that's how I do."

Magnus grabs Alec's belt and pulls him closer. Something about the shadowhunter's combination of honesty and vulnerability always draws him in. It has been too long since the warlock has been close to someone so uncalculating. "You _do_ fit in with your merry band," he says, expecting Alec to blush and shrug again.

Alec, however, does not seem to have heard him. He is staring down at the hand curled around his belt buckle and when he looks up at Magnus again, his pupils are large and his mouth is slightly parted. Before Magnus can register what is happening, Alec is pushing him back against the counter top and running his hands up under Magnus's shirt. The shadowhunter kisses him deeply, their tongues crashing together and their legs tangling.

Magnus angles his body so that his thigh is pressed up against Alec's crotch and he hears him moan as Alec grabs Magnus's ass and pull him even closer. Magnus doesn't know why he is surprised when Alec unzips his, Magnus's, pants and starts to pull them down. He is eighteen, after all, Magnus thinks fleetingly, and Alec is one of those people who acts differently when he's hungry.


End file.
